Pad construction



G- A. PRAGER PAD CONSTRUCTION May 16, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.18, 1947 INVENTOR. GER/4Z0 4. 1 /9/4651? A TTORNEY May 16, 1950 G. A.PRAGER 2,507,543

PAD CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 18, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l g \v BY 24 28 34M QM A TTOIQNEY Patented May 16, 1950 FFICE PAD CONSTRUCTION Gerald A.Prager, New York, N. Y., assignor to Henry L. Burkitt, New York, N. Y.

Application January 18, 1947, Serial No. 722,941

20 Claims. 1

This invention relates to pad construction.

The use of padding to build up the shoulders of garments to make themdepart from their normal appearance is well-known. Many different typesof devices have been utilized for this purpose, but few, if any, lendthemselves to washing or dry cleaning. Furthermore, the materials ofwhich they are made are such that, once the pads are installed in thegarment, they, in most cases, retain their shape only so long as theoriginal shaping imparted to the pad is not disturbed. In case ofwashing or other manipulations of the garment, the pads tend to becomedistorted, and thereby to lose their form-defining contours.

It'is an object of the invention to provide a shoulder pad which willmaintain its contour-defining shape substantially constantly.

It is an object of the invention to provide a shoulder pad which, eventhough subjected to operations such as washing or dry cleaning, will notbe affected as to its contour-defining properties.

It is an object of the invention to provide a shoulder pad of the typeindicated, which may be manufactured cheaply and simply by a minimumnumber of operations, and which requires no special technique for itsassociation with a garment.

Other objects of the invention will be set forth hereinafter, or will beapparent from the description and the drawings, in which are illustratedembodiments exemplifying the invention.

The'invention, however, is not intended to be restricted to anyparticular constructions, or any particular arrangements of parts, orany particular application of any such construction or arrangement ofparts, or any specific method of operation or use, or any ofthe variousdetails thereof, even where specifically shown and described herein, asthe same may be modified in various particulars, or may be applied inmany varied relations, without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe claimed invention, of which the exemplifying embodiments, hereinshown and described, are intended to be illustrative only, and only forthe purpose of complying with the requirements of the Statutes fordisclosure of an operative embodiment, but not to show all the variousforms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied.

On the drawings, in which the same reference characters refer to thesame parts throughout, and in which are disclosed such practicalconstruction,

Fig. 1 is a detail elevatlonal view illustrating a portion of a blousedisposed upon a figure, the blouse having a shoulder pad embodyingfeatures of the invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view substantially on the line 2-2of Fig. 1, illustrating the disposition of the pad in use;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the garment and pad illustrated in Fig. l, apart of the garment being broken away to illustrate the pad;

Fig. 4 is a plan view to enlarged scale of the pad embodying theinvention, a portion of the pad being broken away in section toillustrate the internal construction thereof;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view substantially on the line 55of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view substantially on the line 66of Fig. 5;

Figs. '7 and 8 are plan views of the pieces utilized in making theshoulder pads shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a detail elevational view illustrating the method of makingthe shoulder pad shown in- Fig. 4;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the apparatus used in Fig. 9, illustrating apad retained upon the apparatus;

Figs. 11 and 12 are plan views of the pieces utilized in making themodified pad shown in Fig. 14;

Fig. 13 is a detail elevational view similar to Fig. 9, illustrating themanner of making the pad shown in Fig. 14; and

Fig. 14 is a detail elevational View of a modified pad structure.

On the drawings, has been shown a blouse ill at the shoulder ll of whichis associated a pad [4 embodying features of the invention. Sleeve l6-of the garment hangs from fabric l8 defining shoulder I2. I Sleeve It,at its upper end 20, depends from the outer extremity of pad I4 whichserves to impart an upward tilt to fabric l8 at the shoulder, andthereby to sleeve l6,'giving the appearance of a horizontal or a risingshoulder to the wearer.

Pad l4 may be assembled as a part of shoulder l2 in any preferredmanner. The pad itself may be made from a piece 22 of air cell foamlatex,-

such as now may be found on the market under the name Geon.

side than on the other.

Such material, however, is not water absorbent;

It is a product obtained by flowing a dispersion of rubber in fluid forminto molds, and then aging that rubber in the molds. Such material willbe found to be smoother on one This arises from the moulding process,the side towards the mold beby a simple squeezing operation, as, forinstance, such as produced when clothes are wrung, any water absorbed bythe sheet is discharged almost completely. The material does not, infact, have any great water absorptive property. The thickness of thesheet is determined by the amount placed in the mold.

For the production of a pad such as here being described, a sheet ofapproximately threeeighths of an inch thick has been found desirable;such a thickness, however, is not critical. lhe sheet is cut up intopieces 22 which, for certain purposes, are substantially triangular. Thedimensions of the triangle may be varied, but a suitable arrangement hasbeen found in the form of an isosceles triangle, the base 24 of whichmeasures approximately six and three-quarters inches, and the sides 26,five and one-quarter inches. These dimensions are not intended to becritical, but have been found to serve certain practical purposes inactual use.

A separate piece 23, cut from the same material, may likewise be in theform of an isosceles triangle, having a base 33 of approximately threeand one-half inches, and a side 32 of approximately three inches. Sides32 preferably are bevelled, as at 34.

In order to make pad l4, piece 22 is positioned, as shown in Fig. 9,upon a form 36 which preferably is shaped to conform to the contour of ashoulder to which a garment bearing a pad of this type is fitted. Anysuitable means may be provided for retaining piece 22 on form 33. Onedesirable method is to provide sticking points 38 on the form by meansof pieces of Scotch tape.

These pieces of tape are positioned so that portions .0 of surface :12of piece 22 may be engaged to retain piece 22 in. the shape of the form.

For certain purposes, rubber cement may be applied only to the faces ofbevels 34. Then, while piece 22 retains the shape of form 36, piece 28is positioned upon piece 22 so that surface 44 of piece 28 is directlyin engagement with surface 48 of piece 22, and so that the bases 24 and30 of pieces 22 and 28, respectively, are substantially in the sameplane. At the same time, bevels 34 are brought down into engagement withsurface 4' 5. Thus, piece 28 will be adhered to piece 22 along the linesof engagement of bevels 34 with surface 46.

If it is desired to provide a smooth contour for pad It, the point ofintersection of bevels 34 at apex 48 may be shaved off further toprovide a portion of tapering thickness having a bevel or surface 50into which bevels 34 fiow. Then, before surfaces 44 and 46 are broughtinto engagement, surface G may have an adhesive, such as rubber cement,applied to it. Then, when surfaces '44 and 45 are brought together,surface 56 will be adhered to surface 46.

Piece 28 will have been located during this operation so that its axisof symmetry, that is,

its altitude from its apex 42, will be substantially This separatedrelation of the pieces does not persist when pad ['4 is afilxed to agarment and 4 the garment itself is draped over the shoulder of awearer. Ends 52 of piece 22 are pulled downwardly around the shoulder,and the pad takes the form shown in Fig. 2, in which case piece 28follows substantially the contour of piece 22 but functions to produce asufiicient increase in height at the shoulder for proper functioning ofpad M.

In the modified construction illustrated in Fig. 14, piece 5 3 is madesubstantially in the same manner as piece 28 of Fig. 8; piece 56 is madesubstantially in the same manner as piece 22 of Fig. '7. In this case,however, piece 54 is positioned first on form 36, as shown in Fig. 13,with bevelled edges 58 facing outwardly. Adhesive material may beapplied to bevelled edges 58 of piece 5 Then piece 56 is positioned,substantially in the same manner as in the case of pieces 28, so thatthe two bases 6!! and B2 of the triangles are substantially in the sameplane, but now piece is on top of and conforms to the shape of piece 54.After piece 54 has become properly adhered to piece 53 along theposition of the applied adhesive material, piece 54 is released fromform 35, and the new pad 64 will be seen to assume the form shown inFig. 14, in which pieces 53 now will assume an arcuate contouring. Piece54 will have a slight curvature, but substantially opposite to that ofpiece 56. These curvatures, however, as will be noted from the relationof the pieces when positioned on form 35, merely are sufficient toprovide for building up height at the point of contact of piece 54 withthe shoulder of a wearer.

In either case, however, the adhesive material may be applied throughoutthe extent of the contacted surfaces of pieces 22 and 28, or of pieces54 and 56. For instance, in one construction, piece 54 has no bevellededges 58. Pieces 56 and 56 are adhered to each other while piece 54remains secured to and flexed to the contour of form 35. Then, with thepieces thus adhered to each other, piece 54 is released from form 36;its square side edges may have been or are now coated with cement; bothpieces are bent and the edges bearing the cement are pressed to bendover and into contact with the free face of piece 56. The result is thatthe pad produced will take a form closely approximating the shape of thepieces as held on form 36 in Fig. 13.

It should be pointed out that, in every case, there results a pad havinga definite preformation because one of the layers had been flexed to theshape of the form, and had been so retained at the time the other layerwas adhered thereto.

In the case of either pad !4 or pad 64, a fabric covering 66 may beprovided. That fabric covering may be loose in the usual manner, inwhich case the fabric is stitched so as to form a housing for the pad.It has also been found possible to stitch the material of pads l4 and 64directly to the fabric so that no covering material is necessary.

Many other changes could be effected in the particular constructions,and in the methods of use and construction, and in specific detailsthereof, hereinbefore set forth, without substantially departing fromthe invention de'fmpd in the claims, the specific description beingmerely of embodiments capable of illustrating certain principles of theinvention.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A shoulder pad for building up the shoulder portion of a garment, thepad comprising a sechas...

5, tion of a sheet of elastic material, a portion of the same materialsecured to the section, the section being flexed out of its normal sheetform and substantially into the contour of a shoulder when the portionis secured thereto.

2. A shoulder pad for building up the shoulder portion of a garment, thepad comprising a substantially triangular section of normally planarelastic material, a portion of the same material but of smallerdimensions secured to the section, the section being flexed out of itsnormal sheet form and substantially into the contour of a shoulder whenthe portion is secured thereto.

3. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad consisting of two pieces of elastic material, one of the piecesbeing larger than the other, the pieces being secured together insubstantially superimposed relationship, one of the pieces being placedin tension along that surface thereof against which the other piece isto be superimposed and secured.

4. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad consisting of two pieces of elastic material of substantiallythe same shape, one of the pieces being larger than the other, thepieces being secured together in substantially superimposed relationshipand with edges of the pieces substantially coincident, one of the piecesbeing placed in tension along that surface thereof against which theother piece is to be superimposed and secured so that, on release of thepiece from tension, the other piece will be deformed substantially fromits normal state.

5. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad consisting of two pieces of elastic material one of which is oftriangular shape, one of the pieces being larger than the other, thepieces being secured together in substantially superimposed relationshipby imparting an arcuate contour to one of the pieces and thenpositioning the other piece to conform to that contour and in contactwith the first piece while securing the pieces together along edges ofthe smaller piece contacting the larger piece.

6. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad consisting of two pieces of elastic material of triangularshape, one of the pieces being larger than the other, the pieces beingsecured together by imparting an arcuate contour to one of the piecesand then positioning the other piece so that one of its edges issubstantially coincident with an edge of the other piece and shapingthat piece to conform to the contour of the first piece while securingthe pieces together along the other edges of the smaller piece.

'7. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being of substantially the same geometrical contour but ofdifferent sizes, the sections being superimposed and disposed tocoincide along axes of symmetry, and then being secured along a pair ofedges of the smaller section, one of the sections, while the sectionsare being secured together, being retained in the form of a shoulder towhich the pad is to be applied.

8. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being of substantially the same geometrical contour but ofdifferent sizes, the sections being superimposed and disposed tocoincide along axes of symmetry and along an edge of each of thesections, the sections being securedalong a pair of the other edges ofthe smaller section, one of the sections, while the sections are beingsecured together, being retained in the form of a shoulder to which thepad is to be applied.

9. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being of substantially the same geometrical contour but ofdifierent sizes, the sections being superimposed and disposed tocoincide along an edge of each of the sections, the sections beingsecured along a pair of the other edges of the smaller section, one ofthe sections, while the sections are being secured together, beingretained in the form of a shoulder to which the pad is to be applied.

10. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being of substantially the same geometrical contour but ofdiiferent sizes, the sections being superimposed and disposed tocoincide along an edge of each of the sections, the sections beingsecured along a pair of the other edges of the smaller section, one ofthe sections, while the sections are being secured together, having arounded contour.

11. A shoulder pad for use in padding theshoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet ofsubstantial thickness, the sections being of sub-- stantially the samegeometrical contour but of different sizes, the sections beingsuperimposed and disposed to coincide along axes of symmetry, and thenbeing secured along a pair of edges of the smaller section, one of thesections, while the sections are being secured together, being re tainedin the form of shoulder to which the pad is to be applied, edges of oneof the sections bein bevelled.

12. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being triangular but of different sizes, the sections beingsuperimposed and disposed so that the bases of the triangles aresubstantially in the same line and the apices of the triangles arepointed in the same general direction, the sections being securedtogether only where the edges of the smaller section other than its baseare in contact with the larger section, one of the sections being biasedinto an arcuate shape between the lines of engagement of the sections.

13. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being triangular but of diiferent sizes. the sections beingsuperimposed and disposed so that the bases of the triangles aresubstantially in the same line and so that the altitudes of thetriangles are substantially in the same plane, the sides of the smallersection being bevelled, the sections being secured together only wherethe bevelled sides are in contact with the larger section, one of thesections being biased into an arcuate shape between the lines ofengagement of the sections.

14. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being triangular but of different sizes, the sections beingsuperimposed and disposed so that the bases of the triangles aresubstantially in the same line and so that the altitudes of thetriangles are substantially in the same plane, the sides of the smallersection being bevelled, the sections being secured together only wherethe bevelled sides are in contact with the larger section, the smallersection being biased into an arcuate shape between the lines ofengagement of its sides with the larger section.

15. A shoulder pad for use in padding the shoulder portion of a garment,the pad comprising a pair of sections of sponge rubber sheet, thesections being triangular but of difierent sizes, the sections beingsuperimposed and disposed so that the bases of the triangles aresubstantially in the same line and so that the altitudes of thetriangles are substantially in the same plane, the sides of the smallersection being bevelled, the sections being secured together only wherethe bevelled sides are in. contact with the larger section, the largersection being biased into an arcuate shape so that the section hasopposite crrvature between the lines of engagement of the sides of thesmaller section with the larger section.

16. The method of making shoulder pads for garments, which comprises thesteps of forming a piece of an elastic material to the shape of the baseof the pad, shaping the piece to the shape of a shoulder to which thepad is to be applied, applying another piece of an elastic material tothe first piece so that the second piece conforms to the contour of thefirst piece, and adhering the two pieces only where portions of theedges of one piece contact the other piece.

17. The method of making shoulder pads for garments, which comprises thesteps of forming a piece of an elastic material to the shape of the baseof the pad, shaping the piece to the shape of a shoulder to which thepad is to be applied, applying another piece of an elastic material tothe first piece so that the second piece conforms to the contour of thefirst piece, one of the pieces being smaller than the other, andadhering the two pieces only where portions of edges of the smallerpiece contact the other piece.

18. The method of making shoulder pads for garments, which comprises thesteps of forming a piece of an elastic material to the shape of the baseof the pad, shaping the piece to the shape of a shoulder to which thepad is to be applied, applying a smaller piece of an elastic material tothe first piece so that the smaller piece conforms to the contour of thelarger piece, and adhering the two pieces only where the edges of thesmaller piece are not coincident with the edges of the larger piece, andonly where portions of edges of the smaller piece contact the otherpiece.

19. The method of making shoulder pads for garments, which comprises thesteps of forming a substantially triangular piece of an elasticmaterial, shaping the piece to the shape of a shoulder to which the padis to be applied, applying a smaller piece of an elastic material ofsubstantially the same geometrical shape to the first piece so that thesmaller piece conforms to the contour of the larger piece, and adheringthe two pieces only where the edges of the smaller piece are notcoincident with the edges of the larger piece, and only where portionsof edges of the smaller piece contact the other piece.

20. The method of making shoulder pads for garments, which comprises thesteps of forming a substantially triangular piece of an elasticmaterial, shaping the piece to the shape of a shoulder to which the padis to be applied, applying a smaller piece of an elastic material ofsubstantially the same geometrical shape to the first piece so that thebase line of the smaller piece is substantially coincident with the baseline of the larger piece, and so that the smaller piece conforms to thecontour of the larger piece, and adhering the two pieces only where theedges of the smaller piece are not coincident with the edges of thelarger piece, and only where portions of edges of the smaller piececontact the other piece.

GERALD A. PRAGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 207,211 Scheu Aug. 20, 18782,329,496 Walcoff Sept. 14, 1943 2,400,210 Royce May 14, 1946 2,420,799Siteman May 20, 1947 2,424,482 Mechur July 22, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 1,913 Great Britain Jan. 27, 1896

